Graphs of statistical and other data have existed for a long time. One technique for displaying data includes the use of box charts. A box chart, sometimes referred to as a “Box And Whiskers” chart, can be used to display statistical data within a data set. Multiple box charts may also show different data sets, and have multiple grids and axes. In one case, a box chart may be used to display a minimum data point, a maximum data point, a 25th Percentile, a 50th Percentile, a 75th Percentile, and if desired, any outliers.
FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a box chart that displays data regarding a range of data samples. This box chart includes a box or body portion (sometimes referred to as “real body”) having a longitudinal axis and lines or narrow rectangles that extend therefrom in the direction of the longitudinal axis. The lines or narrow rectangles (sometimes referred to as “whiskers” or “shadows”) represent the extremes of the range of data. The ends of the box (body portion) represent two intermediate values such as the 25 and 75 percentile values. In some cases, a line is also drawn through the rectangular body perpendicular to the longitudinal axis to show the mean value. As shown, a basic box chart typically uses the length of the body, the length of the whiskers and one or more axes to display data. In some cases, for example where multiple box charts are used to represent multiple data sets, the entirety of one or more box charts may be colored to distinguish one data set from another.
One well-known box chart is the Japanese “candlestick,” which is used in the technical analysis of financial markets. In this application, the low, high, opening and closing prices of a certain commodity during a certain period of time are presented as a box chart. While box charts in general are known and have been used, existing known uses provided a limited amount of data in a rigid way. These and other drawbacks exist.